The Best Thing About Ice-Skating
A very belated work for the @shklance-exchange for my giftee @r-i-v-e-r You wished for some winter sport and warming up after, so I hope you will enjoy the boys doing some ice skating and then having a cup of cocoa <3
Rating: G
Wordcount: 2590
Pairing: shklance
“Don’t worry, Shiro. It will be fine.”
Looking down at Lance, who was kneeling in between his legs, Shiro hoped his look expressed his concerns about how fine this was going to be. He was definitely too old to learn this, but Lance was talking and talking about how great an ice skating date would be and Shiro was just too weak for either of his boyfriends. In the end, it was him who suggested to go visit the open skating rink next weekend. At least he wouldn’t be the only one, who looked like a newborn foal - or so he thought at least. But Keith had surprised him when he said that he did know how to skate. And Lance got a bit too excited when Shiro told them, he himself could not skate, and was eager to promise they would teach him. Which brought them here, sitting on the bench at the skating rink, with Lance tying Shiro’s skates. Shiro was already regretting his suggestion, before he even stepped on the ice. This was not going to be fine. One look at the ice flashed an image of him flat on his face before his eyes. Shiro forced himself to look down at Lance instead, who was patting alongside his skates.
“How is the fit? Not too tight?” Lance asked, checking how tight he had tied the skates.
“No, I think it’s good?” Shiro tried not to make his answer sound too much like a question, but it still did. He had no clue how tight the skates were supposed to be. The only thing he knew that they were not cutting his blood flow off, which was a good thing, right?
“Okay, I think you are good to go. Keith?”
“Right here.” Keith had his skates on by that time and helped Shiro to get up on his feet.
Catching balance with those things on was the worst and Shiro felt like he was rediscovering his legs with the first few steps he took. Once Keith helped him step on the ice, Shiro’s legs wobbled. Badly.
“Maybe… we shouldn’t… I don’t want you to fall down because of me, Keith.” Contrary to his words, Shiro clung to Keith’s arms like it was the only lifeline in existence. He was aware of it, but no matter what, his brain refused to loosen his cramped fingers and let go of Keith’s jacket.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Shiro. We are not going to fall down. Here… put one of your hands here. Yeah, like that, that’s it. Good boy.”
“I’m not a dog, Keith.” Shiro glared at Keith, but the soft smile on Keith’s lips melted Shiro’s glare away. Keith wasn’t mocking him, but most likely tried to get Shiro to relax… with words he had definitely ‘caught’ from Lance. They all influenced each other a little bit too much.
“But you still did good.” There was a chuckle behind him and Shiro didn’t need to turn around to know Lance had finally joined them. Hands settled on his hips, holding tight, but not restricting. Giving Shiro’s confidence a little boost that maybe he wasn’t going to end up on his face anytime soon. Or at least not in the next ten seconds.
“Hello, handsome.” Lance grinned when Shiro glanced at him over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we got this. You will be speeding around the rink in no time.”
There was no way Shiro could believe that, yet he concentrated with all his might and followed every of Lance’s instructions.
Lance was a good teacher and after a few exercises they did on the spot, he lured Shiro to his first forward steps. Each of his arms were held in a tight grip by his boyfriends as they skated at a snail’s pace.
„See, you are doing great!“ Lance’s voice reflected the smile on his lips. The encouraging smile he had for others, which Shiro loved so much about him.
“Just because you are such a good teacher.” Shiro smiled back at him – for half a second before he stared at the ice in front of his feet again. The moment he broke his concentrations to smile at Lance, his legs wobbled like he was about to fall down.
“Shh, easy, easy.” Shiro could hear Keith mutter. “You can be grossly in love once Shiro is not skating.”
“Awww, Keef, don’t act like you aren’t grossly in love either.” Lance teased, and Shiro wheezed, when Lance left his side and skated around to hound in Keith.
The look Keith threw at him was mightily unimpressed and he guided Shiro to turn, so they could skate away from Lance. He had chosen the wrong direction to turn though, because not even halfway through, someone skated past him a tad too close and bumped against his side. It was Keith, who wobbled now, and Shiro tried not to cling to him too much to give him enough room to regain balance. Shiro could consider himself lucky neither of them landed on the ground, considered how unsure he felt on the skates. He was just a little shaken.
“You ass!” Lance, on the other hand, wasn’t shaken at all. “Can’t you watch-“
“Lance, stop.” Keith interrupted him, before he could shout further profanities across the ice. “It’s okay, it was my fault.”
“But they could have made either of you fall and hurt yourself!” Lance protested, arms crossed across his chest.
“But they did not, so it’s fine. And I should have watched my surroundings.”
“But..!”
“But nothing. It’s fine. Drop it.”
“It’s bizarre watching Lance get angry while you are staying level-headed, Keith.” Shiro interrupted their little banter with a laugh. “It used to be the other way around.” He let out loud bursts of laughter and was nowhere to stopping, when he watched the faces of both of his boyfriends heat up.
“Shiro!” Lance recovered first, joining Shiro’s laughter as well as returning to the spot at his side. “They just shouldn’t have messed with my boyfriends, because I get protective,” he explained, sweet honey dripping from his smile, at which Keith rolled his eyes.
“You big protector. We can-“
“Oh, shush, Keith.”
“That he is.”
Lance blushed at Shiro’s words, looking up to him before he pulled him down to a kiss.
“See, Shiro agrees,” Lance grinned at Keith once their kiss parted, which earned him another eyeroll.
“When did Shiro no- hnng.”
Shiro watched Lance pull Keith over into a kiss – the most successful way to shut up either of them.
“Let’s head over to the rink entrance once you two finish. I wouldn’t mind a break.” Shiro had to grin at the dazed look on Keith’s face after the kiss, but he couldn’t blame him – Lance’s kisses were just something peculiar. But to speak the truth, so were Keith’s and Shiro took advantage of the situation and sneaked in to steal a kiss from Keith for himself as well.
=
“I can get us something warm to drink.” Lance looked over the change in the pocket of his jacket if he had enough and literally stormed off before Keith could tag along to help. Stormed off. On the thin, thin blades Shiro had so much respect from and was thrilled he could finally sit. When Keith settled next to him and they both watched Lance bounce around in the line, Shiro’s expression softened.
“Do you think he is having fun?”
The confused look on Keith’s face was unwelcome – Shiro had hoped he wouldn’t have to explain what he meant.
“When he spoke about an ice-skating date, I’m sure he didn’t mean teaching an old geezer how to skate.” Shiro panicked a bit, when Keith snorted at that.
“Firstly, you are not an old geezer Shiro, you are twenty-nine. If anything, you are only almost an old geezer.”
“Oh, thank you Keith.” Shiro’s fist bumped softly against Keith’s shoulder as they both laughed.
“You are very welcome. But secondly, Lance is absolutely loving this. You know how he is about taking care of either of us. He is thrilling right now.” Keith’s grin was contagious, especially as they watched Lance waddle back with three cups in his hands, concentrated on every step so he wouldn’t spill any.
“Be careful, the tea is scorching. First one has no sugar.”
“Thanks.” Keith smiled, as he eased the first cup from between Lance’s fingers. Shiro took the other and Lance slumped on the bank next to him, letting the white steam puffs wash over his nose.
“Cold?” Shiro asked, while he warmed his fingers against the cup.
“Just my face feels a bit frozen, nothing bad.”
“Want to go home?”
Lance shook his head, smile not leaving his lips. “No, not yet. Except either of you do.”
Shiro looked at Keith, who was busy sipping his tea while trying not to burn his tongue off.
“After this tea, I’m fine staying for a bit longer.”
=
‘A bit longer’ turned out to be another hour. Shiro was surprised with the progress he had made today, however when Lance suggested he would also teach him how to skate backwards, Shiro called it quits. He had not fallen once during the whole evening, no need to push his luck. He would rather stand at the side and watch Keith and Lance skate hand in hand for a little bit longer until it was really time to go home.
=
It was way past ten when they finally arrived at their apartment and Keith collapsed into a puddle on the floor right after he took his shoes off.
“I’m… not sure I will be able to move tomorrow. And my toes are frozen solid.” He groaned when a foot poked him, rolled over onto his back and glared up at Lance.
“Come on, no passing out before you get to the couch. I have the perfect recipe to that.”
“To getting to the couch befo-”
“To feel less like a corpse. But if you need a recipe to getting to the couch. If you would be so nice, Shiro.” The grin Lance threw at him was confusing, but when he grabbed Keith under the armpits, Shiro understood.
“Hey, don’t you dare. Shiro! What a betrayal.” Keith protested loud and tried to kick when Shiro grabbed his legs, but laughed when they heaved him up. “I can walk. I can walk!”
“You didn’t really sound like you could.” Lance smirked when they deposited Keith on the couch, patting him on the head. “There, there. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.”
“Do you need help with anything?” Shiro was already a step forward, but Lance’s palm against his chest stopped him.
“Not at all. You just sit back and relax.” Lance smiled, pushing Shiro down on the couch to sit next to Keith.
“What is he planning?” Keith sat up to watch Lance scurry away.
Shiro could only shrug - he had as much clue as Keith did.
They heard Lance busy around in the kitchen, which, right, a hot drink was kind of expected. But then the storage room’s door opened and they heard Lance rummage through it. Shiro tensed when something fell and Lance’s curses bounces through the apartment.
“Do you really not need any help, Lance?” Shiro shifted on the couch. He wasn’t used to just sit and let Lance do all the work, and neither was Keith - he constantly pulled at his pants, staring at the living room door until Lance reappeared.
“Nope. All is okay here.” He grinned wide, carrying a large plastic tub, which he placed in front of the couch.
“Lance?” Keith seemed confused, but Shiro had an idea what Lance had in mind.
“I can bring the water, you don’t need to do eve-”
“Nuh, nuh.” Lance wiggled a finger in front of Shiro’s face. “I told you to sit back and relax. The only thing you can help with is getting rid of your pants and socks.” Lance winked at them before he was gone again, leaving back a perplexed Keith and a head shaking Shiro. Sometimes he had no clue how his body could contain all the love for these two. It was like doing somersaults down the stairs from their apartment. All the way down.
“Come on, we have to listen to Lance’s instructions.” Shiro nudged Keith with his elbow and removed his socks while listening to Lance humming a happy tune in the kitchen.
First, he brought a tray with three steaming cups and the room was filled with the scent of chocolate.
“One hot cocoa to warm your bellies.”
“Thank you.” Shiro accepted his cup with a smile, looking at the image of a black kitten on it. It was a set they had bought a few years ago. The cup with red kitten had been sold out at their local shop and Lance had bent hell to get it, since it was a store exclusive. Now it was covered by Keith’s fingers as he sipped his cocoa. A content expression has spread through his face after the first sip - especially his eyes shone brightly.
“Now, let’s also do something about your feet.” It did not took long until Lance was back again, carrying a large bucket this time, with towels flung over his shoulder. Shiro heard water sloshing around, meaning his suspicion had been correct.
“Careful. It will feel hotter than it actually is.” Lance poured water into the tub and prompted them both to put their feet in.
In the same state of undress he wriggled in between Shiro and Keith, and with his blue kitten cup, a blanket spread over their laps and snuggled to both of his boyfriends, Lance let out a happy sigh.
“You really didn’t have to prepare all this alone.” That was the only complain Shiro had, as he wriggled his toes in the warm water.
“We could have helped!” Keith was apparently bothered by it as well.
“I know. But I wanted to. It’s a thank you for the amazing surprise date.” Lance grinned before he took a sip of his cocoa. He looked like a cat, who just got to a lifelong supply of cream.
Shiro’s body became warmer, and not because of the cocoa. He ruffled Lance’s hair just as Keith pressed a kiss on his cheek. “I’m happy you had an amazing time, even with the… um, circumstances.” Shiro smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I promise the next time will be better.”
Lance’s eyes lit up. “There will be a next time?”
“Of course. Shiro needs a lot of practice to get better.” Keith stretched his arm and patted Shiro on his shoulder, who gulped a bit. He wasn’t running away from the backwards skating next time. But he still wanted to get better.
“Yeah, so you two don’t have to lead me around the whole time.”
“Oh, don’t worry Shiro. I didn’t mind it.” Lance smiled at him, this warm, encouraging smile that was so typically Lance and made Shiro’s heart beat faster. “Actually, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Besides,” he lifted his leg and watched the water trickle back down into the tub. “This is actually the best part about ice skating dates. Getting warm again, all three of us together.” He knocked his knees against Keith’s and Shiro’s several times until they both leaned in. Sharing their warm breaths, they laughed as they rubbed their noses together - a love gesture between all three of them.
